Quote Originally Posted by haukehaien View Post
To answer your questions:
1) There's no embouchure as such, although getting your lips into condition to maintain a good seal around the blowpipe can take a bit of time.
2) Dunbar makes good bagpipes. The P-1 model is fine, and not just as a student model. If you intend to play in a band, you may want to look into the P-2 or P-3 models, which have more traditional styling. The Pipers' Choice pipes aren't bad for practicing.
3) DO NOT buy a set of bagpipes now. If you must buy something, buy a practice chanter. You will use the PC your whole piping career - it's what you learn tunes on, even after you've graduated to pipes.
4) I would say, don't even buy a PC until you've found a teacher. Some teachers are picky about what PCs their students have. Some don't care.
5) If you're interested in learning a lot more about piping, I would suggest joining the Bob Dunsire forums at http://www.bobdunsire.com. You'll find a lot of pipers there and practically any question you have has probably been covered.

Good luck! It's a long journey, but well worth it.
Yes, wait until you feel comfortable with the scales and movments and what not before you move on to the real thing and even there i would recomened corking all your drones except for maybe one tenor so you can build up stamina. Now if you already play an instrument then your set and your breathing probably won't be an issue. It wasn't for me, but then again i play trombone in my school marching band, so i have a fair amount of lung power.

if you have any questions, concerns, or toils and snares feel free to PM me.